• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, May 13, 2012

With a dearth of hit shows, NBC is taking a gamble by doubling up on “The Voice” next season. The singing competition has been a huge success, but adding a fall edition could dilute its impact.

For the 2012-13 season, NBC is also bringing back low-rated comedies “Whitney” and “Community,” although the network will shift them to Fridays as part of a move to add more comedies. NBC will have at least an hour a night of the genre on Tuesdays through Fridays.

Only one NBC comedy, “The Office,” is in the top-50 scripted shows this season. Yet NBC Broadcasting Chairman Ted Harbert indicated that Madison Avenue appreciates them more than Main Street.

The advertising community loves them and we still get a premium (price) on the shows because of the upscale audience they deliver,” he said as NBC announced its 2012-13 schedule on Sunday.

On an unrelated topic, Harbert addressed the burgeoning controversy around Dish Network’s new Auto Hop DVR function that allows viewers to click a button and automatically skip all commercials in a show, if viewed the day after broadcast.

Referring to the TV business, he said: “I think this is an attack on our ecosystem.” He indicated that he would comment further about it at NBC’s upfront presentation Monday.

After “The Voice” was a surprise hit starting in the spring of 2011, NBC gave it a rest last fall. This spring, it has continued its appeal as the third-highest-rated show in prime time, trailing “American Idol” by less than 2% in the 18-to-49 demo by one measure.

The Voice” will return this fall on Mondays for two hours. Its second weekly airing will run for an hour on Tuesdays. Then another version will launch in early 2013.

"There was never any doubt that we were going to do two segments a year eventually, once we got our sea legs,” NBC entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt said.

He said two runs a year is de rigueur for hit reality series, from “Survivor” to “Dancing with the Stars.” The one that was “sacrosanct” was “American Idol,” yet Greenblatt said that effectively has a fall version now with the “X Factor.”

This is where there may be some risk of fatigue. “There are too many of these shows … there’s definitely clutter,” Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of FremantleMedia North America, said earlier this year of sing-offs. Her company is behind “Idol” and “X Factor” -- which is being reworked after a solid -- but not exceptional -- debut season.

This fall, NBC is moving news magazine “Rock Center with Brian Williams,” to the Thursday at 10 p.m. time slot. The time period was an NBC drama stronghold for decades with “L.A. Law” and “ER.”

Also this fall, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” the last of the lucrative Dick Wolf franchise, will return for a 14^th season, airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m. There, it will be followed by a new Wolf drama, “Chicago Fire,” about a Windy City fire squad.

On Thursdays, “30 Rock” will return to lead off the night, followed by returnees “Up All Night,” “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” Surprisingly, NBC is not slotting one of its four new fall comedies in the lineup.

NBC used the hour on Mondays following “The Voice” this spring to launch drama “Smash” to some success. This fall, “Revolution,” a new sc-fi drama from J.J. Abrams set before the Industrial Revolution, will air in that time period.  

“You have such a large audience following into the 10 o’clock period, you actually have a fighting chance of making something work,” Greenblatt, the NBC entertainment chairman, said.

The four new comedies this fall are “Go On,” “The New Normal,” “Animal Practice” and “Guys with Kids.” There is only one new drama in “Revolution,” although several are set for midseason.

NBC FALL 2012-13 SCHEDULE

(*New programs in UPPER CASE; all times EST)

MONDAY

8-10 p.m. – “The Voice”

10-11 p.m. – “REVOLUTION”

TUESDAY

8-9 p.m. –“The Voice”

9-9:30 p.m. – “GO ON”

9:30-10 p.m. – “THE NEW NORMAL”

10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood”

WEDNESDAY

8-8:30 p.m. – “ANIMAL PRACTICE”

8:30-9 p.m. – “GUYS WITH KIDS”

9-10 p.m. – “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

10-11 p.m. – “CHICAGO FIRE”

THURSDAY

8-8:30 p.m. – “30 Rock”

8:30-9 p.m. – “Up All Night”

9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”

9:30-10 p.m. – “Parks and Recreation”

10-11 p.m. – “Rock Center with Brian Williams”

FRIDAY

8-8:30 p.m. – “Whitney”

8:30-9 p.m.– “Community”

9-10 p.m. – “Grimm”

10-11 p.m. –Dateline NBC”

SATURDAY

Encore programming

SUNDAY (Fall 2012)

7- 8:15 p.m. -- "Football Night in America"

8:15-11:30 p.m. -- "NBC Sunday Night Football"

SUNDAY (Post-football/Winter 2013)

7-8 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”

8-9 p.m. – “Fashion Star”

9-10 p.m. – “The Celebrity Apprentice”

10-11 p.m. – “DO NO HARM”